Write what makes you laugh. If you think something is funny, someone else will think so too. Young readers know when humor is not authentic.

Write from your own “most embarrassing” moments.

You have to love the character you’re putting in comedic jeopardy, or else it comes off as being mean. You want your audience to laugh with the character, not at him.

Specific details are almost always funnier than generalizations. For example: Principal Zumba has a mole. Or… Principal Zumba has a mole shaped like the statue of liberty that looks like it’s doing the hula whenever he talks.